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Population White Paper : An Epic Failure at all levels....
One academic pointed out that the entire white paper has no reference section to show the research the paper is based on - even a student thesis needs to substantiate its findings with existing research. I will tell you what this is the case later on. The paper set the wrong priorities putting GDP growth not the well being of Singaporeans as key targets.
It then goes on to use our low TFR and support ratios for the old as justifications for importing foreigners and converting many to PRs and citizens. The white paper has left out our non-resident workforce to show that our OASR (Old age support ratiio is falling. But this is not true once we include the current level of the non-resident workforce - the OASR goes up to 9.8 way above the average among OECD countries. We have already expanded our population so much in the last 10 years with new citizens and the expansion of the non-resident workforce. This expansion is far in excess (by 5-8 times) of what we can achieve if our TFR is maintained at the replacement level of 2.1 i,e. we have already overcompensated for our low fertility of the past....if TFR is the real reason we can just stop importing people for the next 10 years because we have already over-compensated for it.
The white paper also makes ridiculous assertions that the plan will "strengthen the Singaporean core" by shrinking it down to 55% (which includes newly imported citizens) and that the foreign influx is to improve our quality of life as the density of people increases. We are among the most densest cities in the world. The cost of living has escalated as demand for land pushes housing and rental costs up. The govt claims it can expand infrastructure quickly for housing and transport doing what it failed to do in the past. But quality living is not just about housing and transport...the more people you have, the higher pressure on space will affect many aspects of our urban life: from how many children people choose to have, to how often they can play their favorite sports and how they socialize with friends and family.
- http://singaporemind.blogspot.sg/2013/02/population-white-paper-epic-failure-at.html
One academic pointed out that the entire white paper has no reference section to show the research the paper is based on - even a student thesis needs to substantiate its findings with existing research. I will tell you what this is the case later on. The paper set the wrong priorities putting GDP growth not the well being of Singaporeans as key targets.
It then goes on to use our low TFR and support ratios for the old as justifications for importing foreigners and converting many to PRs and citizens. The white paper has left out our non-resident workforce to show that our OASR (Old age support ratiio is falling. But this is not true once we include the current level of the non-resident workforce - the OASR goes up to 9.8 way above the average among OECD countries. We have already expanded our population so much in the last 10 years with new citizens and the expansion of the non-resident workforce. This expansion is far in excess (by 5-8 times) of what we can achieve if our TFR is maintained at the replacement level of 2.1 i,e. we have already overcompensated for our low fertility of the past....if TFR is the real reason we can just stop importing people for the next 10 years because we have already over-compensated for it.
The white paper also makes ridiculous assertions that the plan will "strengthen the Singaporean core" by shrinking it down to 55% (which includes newly imported citizens) and that the foreign influx is to improve our quality of life as the density of people increases. We are among the most densest cities in the world. The cost of living has escalated as demand for land pushes housing and rental costs up. The govt claims it can expand infrastructure quickly for housing and transport doing what it failed to do in the past. But quality living is not just about housing and transport...the more people you have, the higher pressure on space will affect many aspects of our urban life: from how many children people choose to have, to how often they can play their favorite sports and how they socialize with friends and family.
- http://singaporemind.blogspot.sg/2013/02/population-white-paper-epic-failure-at.html
